Microsoft to the Rescue
Following up on my post yesterday about a critical security flaw in Internet Explorer that resulted in some experts telling people to stop using the browser for a while, Microsoft today released a patch for plugging the hole attackers have been using to gain control of people’s computers and steal passwords.
The emergency patch fixes a flaw in the data-binding function of all available versions of IE, including IE5.01, IE6, IE7 and IE8 Beta 2.
The software maker had labeled the flaw as “critical,” the most serious threat ranking in its four-step scoring system. Today’s update was the second out-of-cycle patch from Microsoft in the past two months.
Even though the flaw was actually discovered a week ago, I have to admit Microsoft responded pretty quickly to this situation. In general not too many bugs or software glitches last very long out there in cyber world these days … the software companies have gotten pretty darn good at putting out these fires before they spread into something major. Guess I’ll wait a little longer next time before crying wolf …
